DAVAO CITY — Rolando Bregente Jr. tore through the front nine like lightning, but the 13th and 14th holes struck like a thunderclap, halting his unstoppable charge at South Pacific Golf and Country Club on Tuesday.

Bregente finished with a two-under 38, matching teammate Alexander Bisera, as defending champion Eastridge surged ahead with a 10-point lead over Manila Southwoods in the championship division of the 77th Philippine Airlines Interclub.

Eastridge kicked off its title defense with 145 points, or one-under in stroke play, led by Adrian Bisera and Nino Villasencio, who contributed 35 and 34 points, respectively. Edison Tabalin’s 32 didn’t count toward the team total.

For a while, Bregente seemed ready to carry the entire field on his back. He blazed through the front nine like a house on fire, racking up five birdies to reach 5-under at the turn.

But fate intervened on the par-3 13th, where his 145-yard wedge shot ricocheted off the green and landed in the bunker behind, halting his fiery run.

His troubles only deepened. Bregente’s drive on the next hole sailed out of bounds, forcing a pickup. He steadied himself with four straight pars to limit the damage.

Tristan Jefferson Padilla was the lone Manila Southwoods player to break par with 38 points, but he too fell prey to South Pacific’s tricky greens.

“I got cross-eyed reading the greens. I missed three putts inside three feet. Entirely my fault — I didn’t follow my caddie’s advice,” said Padilla, who missed a three-foot par putt on 17. Southwoods also counted 34 from Santino Pineda, 32 from Shinichi Suzuki, and 31 from Emil Hernandez, while Filipino-American Floyd Villanueva’s 29 did not count.

Tagaytay Highlands IMG trailed in third with 124 points, led by Jik Abdon’s 33, with Raymund Sangil and Zach Castro adding 31 each and Justin Tambunting 29.

While a 10-point gap is manageable in this five-to-play, four-to-count format, teams will need to make their move as action shifts to Apo Golf and Country Club on Wednesday.

Elsewhere, Lanang continued to pace Aviator while Liloan led Sportswriters.

The standings:

CHAMPIONSHIP — Eastridge 145, Manila Southwoods 135, Tagaytay Highlands IMG 124, Del Monte 120, Canlubang 116, The Orchard 110, Wack Wack 104, NorCal Fil-Am 77.

AVIATOR — Lanang 196 (106-90), Sarangani 190 (92-98), Apo Team B 186 (103-83), Lumbia 183 (92-91), Golf and Country Club of Iligan 179 (93-86), Leyte 177 (85-92), Bacolod Golf 168 (87-81), South Cotabato 156 (72-84), Veterans 155 (72-83), UP Tee Jots 151 (74-77), Dona Pepita 150 (67-83), PGA British Columbia 141 (73-68), Stanford 140 (63-77), San Juanico 137 (63-74), Seattle 96 (37-59), Silicon Valley Golfer’s Link 88 (32-56).

SPORTSWRITERS — Liloan 163 (78-85), Dole Kalsangi 157 (79-78), Davao City 149 (80-69), Paoay 148 (80-68), Filipino Golfers Association in Kuwait 141 (72-69), FilAm Fairway GC Hawaii 134 (62-72), MSU 133 (68-65), Baguio Country Club 129 (61-68), Fil-Am Golf Club of Sacramento 127 (67-60), Green Tee Club Riyadh 126 (55-71), Fil-Am Burbank 126 (69-57), Greenhills West 109 (45-64).